Faced with a potentially prolonged investigation into what caused batteries on two Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets to catch fire or emit smoke last month, Boeing’s European rival, Airbus, said yesterday it had abandoned plans to use the same battery technology on its forthcoming wide-body jet, the A350-XWB.
Airbus said it began informing airline customers that it would not move ahead with an original plan to use the lightweight lithium-ion batteries to power a number of the A350’s onboard systems, and would revert instead to a conventional battery, made of nickel-cadmium, that is already used extensively on existing Airbus models.
“Airbus considers this to be the most appropriate way forward in the interest of programme execution and reliability,” said Marcella Muratore, an Airbus spokeswoman.
Airbus completed the assembly of its first test version of the A350 late last year and initial tests of that plane using the lithium-ion batteries had already begun at its factory in Toulouse. By switching gears now, the company said it hoped to be able to stick to its schedule. – (New York Times)